Treasure of the Santa Cruz Mountains: WaterThe History and Beauty of Bonny Doon Watersheds

One of the great pleasures of living in Bonny Doon is being in a rich
forested zone of tall conifers and myriad small plants and wildlife clustered
along numerous creeks and brooks. These watersheds are a natural resource
long treasured by both local and City of Santa Cruz residents. In 1890,
it was the City that invested the money to build Smith Grade to access
Laguna Creek, then a dam and pipeline to bring water into the City reservoir
on Empire Grade near the UCSC Arboretum. Majors and Liddell Creeks also
add their water to pipelines flowing into Santa Cruz.

The history of North Coast water is a backdrop to several current issues,
including the future growth of UCSC, the proposed rerouting of the Cityís
pipeline along the coast, and the Cemex limestone quarry expansiončall
of which could potentially damage quality and/or quantity of this precious
local resource. The complex geography of Bonny Doon makes visualizing our
community as a single integrated water resource difficult. Come join
us for an interactive evening of history, discussion, and beautiful visuals,
led by RBDA member Karl Bareis and other neighbors. With the help of a
software program that combines multiple digital satellite images into a
"virtual world," Karl will navigate us on a sweeping aerial tour of Bonny
Doon topography and its watersheds.

Karl has created a Laguna Creek Watershed Association for residents
who depend on this watershed for their water supply. He will be making
a proposal at the General Meeting that this Watershed Association become
a member-led RBDA committee, so that he and fellow Association members
can mentor other area residents on how to create their own watershed associations
to monitor, protect, and steward their water resources.

UCSC's Growth: Draft EIR A Joke,But Expansion Is Not

The Draft of the Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the massive
UCSC expansion plans, released on Oct. 19, is so vague, flawed, incomplete,
and arbitrary that it should be almost totally redone.

The EIR purports to examine predicted impacts from the 15-year plan,
which calls for the campus to grow by 2020 from 15,000 to 21,000 students
and from 4,077 to 5,600 faculty and staff. The footprint of campus buildings
will double, a new college will bring classrooms and hundreds of residences
to the Bonny Doon Cave Gulch neighborhood, with the UCSC corporate yard
(storage for construction materials, vehicles and machines) relocated there
as well. This North Campus development outlines building on parts of the
campus Natural Reserve, a pristine area set aside some 30 years ago for
study by students in the Natural Sciences, which contains environmentally
sensitive and significant areas.

This will be the first urban development in Bonny Doon and, as such,
it is in direct conflict with the Countyís General Plan. It is outside
both the Santa Cruz City limits and Countyís Urban Services boundary. UCSC
is exempt from local land use planning regulations, so it can thumb its
nose at the General Plan, but it must (UCSC may contest this) obtain the
permission of the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) to get City water
and sewer hookups for the Cave Gulch development. Although it is made up
of local officials, LAFCO is a state agency, so UCSC is not exempt from
its jurisdiction. Clearly, a LAFCO denial is the best tool for preventing
the North Campus development, though the courts or the legislature could
overturn any LAFCO ruling.

Both the City and County are planning to make voluminous objections
to the DEIR, as are several environmental groups (including the RBDA).
By law, each objection must be dealt with before the final EIR is accepted
by the UC Regents. There is a decent chance either or both the City and
County could bring a lawsuit.

Highlights of the problems with the DEIR:

Most galling are numerous acknowledgments in the DEIR that while there
will be major impacts on traffic, housing and the environment, mitigations
are either unavailable, unfeasible, too expensive, or up to the City, not
UCSC, to deal with. In short, it says higher education for more Californians
is too important a goal for UCSC to worry about how it affects our community.

While it identifies numerous impacts to wildlife and plans, some of which
are threatened species, the DEIR cavalierly states that many mitigations
will only be made "if feasible" or "if possible," and describes other mitigations,
such as transferring various animal populations or habitats, that in reality
have little chance of success.

The DEIR makes arbitrary, self-serving determinations about what impacts
are "significant" and need mitigating. For example, under its formula up
to 40% of the campusí threatened Silver Leaf manzanita could be removed,
as could 56% of the manzanita in high-density stands, yet this isnít said
to be "significant."

There are numerous contradictions, such as ignoring the Countyís Sensitive
Habitat Ordinance but not its Erosion Control Ordinance. The DEIR
is available online at lrdp.ucsc.edu, or at the Santa Cruz library at 225
Church St. and at McHenry Library on campus. The report is 900 pages, but
there are summaries of each section. The period for receiving comments
has been extended to Jan. 11, and may be sent via e-mail to lrdp-eir@ucsc.edu
or mailed to 2005 LRDP EIR Comment, UCSC Physical Planning and Construction,
1156 High St. Barn G, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. Your RBDA board has been
working with CLUE, the Coalition for Limiting University Expansion, to
organize opposition to the expansion. To keep up with developments and
participate in events, go to the CLUE website, http://www.santacruzclue.org.

Annual RBDA Board Election

The primary purpose of the RBDA annual meeting, held each January, is
to elect members to the Executive Board. There are four expiring Board
positions, those of Yana Jacobs, Ben Harmon, and Jane Cavanaugh, and long-time
Board member Don Coyne, who is stepping down. The prior three were nominated
at the November General Meeting, along with RBDA member Andre LaFleur.
Per the bylaws, no further nominations are allowed at the January meeting.
Here are the candidatesí statements:

Andre LaFleurI was born and raised in Ketchum, Idaho and moved to Bonny Doon in
August, 2000 to manage the purchase and restoration of an historic farm
property. My response to the natural beauty, history, and community of
Bonny Doon was almost immediate. I soon bought a piece of land, and designed
and built a solar-powered house constructed from recycled materials and
wood milled on site. After my two-year homesteading hiatus, I resumed my
thirteen-year nonprofit development career as Director of Development &
Communications for the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County (LTSCC). My experience
working with nonprofit organizations, including Peninsula Open Space Trust,
San Francisco Opera and the California League of Conservation Voters, has
helped me dramatically increase LTSCCís fundraising and community outreach
programs. At the Land Trust I also instigated an effort to explore
of the formation of a countywide Land Conservation District that has the
potential to become one of the most significant land conservation initiatives
in the history of the County. My sensitivity to rural land and interest
in land conservation are rooted in the writing of Wallace Stegner and a
childhood spent in the pristine mountains, lakes, and rivers of the West.

Ben Harmon I have had the fortune to serve on the RBDA Board for the previous
six years. I have been very encouraged by the active, caring involvement
on the part of my peers on the Board as well as the members of the RBDA.
My wife Patricia and I first became active with county politics, spending
three years fighting the Biotech goat farm located near our home. This
led to my being approached by the RBDA to be their representative to the
North Coast Beaches Advisory Committee, where I have worked for several
years together with representatives from a number of other organizations
to make recommendations to the County Supervisors regarding preservation,
safety, access and development of North Coast beaches. I am an active surfer,
hiker, and environmentalist, and I look forward to continuing to serve
Bonny Doon, helping in whatever way I can to keep it rural and natural.

Jane Cavanaugh I fell in love with Bonny Doon the first time I drove up here and in
1996 bought my first home here. For me this is a place with a great "people
to nature ratio"čmore trees, raw land, and wildlife than people, houses,
and development. I appreciate how Bonny Dooners take care of each other,
how they balance friendliness with respect for privacy, and maintain the
delicate balance of individual rights with impact on community and natural
resources. This is a place I feel a sense of stewardship towards. I joined
RBDA the moment I heard about it. I appreciate the community services that
the RBDA, Bonny Doon Fire and Rescue, Battle Mountain News, and other community
groups provide. Iíd like to continue giving back to the community through
another term as an RBDA Board member and Highlander editor.

Yana Jacobs In 1983 I purchased my family home in Bonny Doon. I raised my two sons
here, started them at the Bonny Doon pre-school and then on to the elementary
school. For the past 25 years I have worked for the County Mental Health
Department, first as a Crisis Intervention Team Specialist and currently
as the Acting Chief of Adult Services. My husband is a high school teacher
with the Santa Cruz City Schools alternative education program. My family
owns an organic farm in Pescadero and leases farmland at Wilder and Swanton.
My love for and sense of community stretch from the 2,200-foot elevation
at Empire Grade to the coast and marshes along the Pacific. But Bonny Doon
is where my heart and soul reside. I have always been a lover of nature,
backpacker, bird watcher and gardener. I am deeply committed to keeping
Bonny Doon rural, even as I have watched the roads get paved, houses go
up all around me and speedsters race down Empire Grade. When asked if Iíd
accept this nomination I realized it was time to become an active participant
rather than a silent whiner.

Iíd like to continue offering my skills through a second term on the
Board: I have a trained ear at "listening to both sides." I am committed
to seeking the truth. I am outrageously honest and passionate, but I am
able to be diplomatic while debating an issue-though I must admit I like
to win. I am a hard worker and work best as part of a team.

North Coast Trail on Track

Itís been a long-term dream of hikers and bikers to have a trail that
runs the length of Californiaís incredible coastline. A few pieces have
been created, including here in Santa Cruz County, where a couple of significant
additions are in the wings.

One big piece of the trail here will run along the Union Pacific (UP)
railroad tracks, which the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Committee
(RTC) has signed an agreement to purchase for $19 million. The only train
using the tracks runs three times a week, bringing materials to and from
the Cemex Davenport plant.

Ignoring the issue of why the government has to buy back land it once
gave away, this is great news. To speed up the purchase, the California
Coastal Conservancy, a state agency, recently announced that it will grant
the RTC $10 million, which will be repaid by already approved but not yet
allocated funds from the state and federal governments. On the other hand,
a dark cloud recently emerged when a study was released showing that millions
of dollars of repairs and earthquake safety improvements are needed on
the trackís trestles. The RTC and UP are funding a more detailed study.
The County is now in the initial stages of an Environmental Impact study
for extending the trail, which now runs from Shaffer Road to Wilder Ranch
State Park, four miles farther to the north to Scaroni Road. The extension
is expected to cost $4- to $5-million and will take several years before
it is ready for public use. The planned route runs alongside the Union
Pacific tracks.

While we are very excited by the potential for a safe, scenic bike path
along the rail corridor along the North Coast, we are concerned that the
project not overlook any potential hazards to public health that could
result from placing a public access route in the middle of an area of intense
commercial agriculture activity. One such potential hazard is any
exposure to toxins used as part of commercial farming. The proposed
bicycle route along the train tracks between Wilder Ranch and Scaroni Road
runs through the center of five farms leased from State Parks. All
but one of these farms are commercial, putting the majority of the proposed
bike route through the middle of fields heavily treated with fungicides,
pesticides, and herbicides, many highly toxic. Over 1,300 applications
of over 60 unique chemicals were performed on these fields during the 2004
growing season¹.

Many chemicals, particularly pesticides, are applied in liquid form
through tractor sprayers, causing chemicals to drift some distance if there
is any wind. Unfortunately, the growing season coincides precisely with
the windy season, so drift is a strong possibility. For this reason, farmers
try to spray at night when the wind is lighter, but this isnít always possible
and applications can occur at any time. In addition, it does not seem to
be possible to determine in advance when and with what any particular field
will be sprayed. This means that a morning bike ride could take riders
within a few feet of a field where active spraying is taking place.
Chemicals differ in how long they remain toxic (their "half-life"). Studies²
indicate that "secondhand drift" from chemicals with a long half-life that
continue to off-gas or dry into powder form and drift can cause continued
levels of toxicity in the area for days or even weeks, much longer than
previously thought.

With local winds blowing directly down the rail line in the summer,
this is clearly a potential public health concern that needs to be addressed
before any permanent public access along the rail corridor is developed.
We believe that long-term site studies should be performed to evaluate
any risk factors, both immediate and cumulative.

On Thursday, Dec. 7, between 1 and 3 am, the CDC (California Department
of Corrections) Camp on Empire Grade had an inmate escape. Per agreements
made with the Bonny Doon community, first thing Thursday morning Lt. Ray
Stewart made phone calls to community members who had requested notification,
including the RBDA Chair, who immediately authorized an alert to
the RBDA member e-mail list.

The inmate left the Bonny Doon area apparently without incident and
was seen at noon the same day in downtown Santa Cruz. Lt. Stewart reports
that despite dispatching 10 search teams, CDC has not been able to locate
the inmate. They have unconfirmed reports that he left the Santa Cruz area
on a bus, possibly headed for Salinas where he had family. The inmate
was a first-time offender serving time for a relatively minor offense of
"purchasing a controlled substance." He had only five weeks left to serve
on his sentence, but was in the process of being deported back to Mexico.

Lt. Stewart will be at the Jan. 11 meeting to address any concerns or
questions. Contact the RBDA Board if you would like to be on an e-mail
or phone list to receive future escapee notifications.

Green Waste Going to Waste?

The RBDA Board received several inquiries from community members who
spotted green waste at the City of Santa Cruzís Dimeo Lane facility being
used as an alternate cover to top the landfill each day. Given the "zero
waste" goals that the County is aggressively pursuing to lengthen landfill
life expectancy, it was a curious sight to see the City facility apparently
wasting precious landfill space on a reusable resource. We checked
it out with both City and County Dept Public Works officials.

On a positive note, the Dimeo Lane facility actually does "due diligence"
on their green waste. Their testing revealed some residual pesticides that
donít break down during the composting process. The amount was fairly small,
but the majority of their green waste was being used as mulch by an organic
farmer, who chose to discontinue use for now. Until they find another outlet
for their mulch (itís yours for the asking!), they plan to continue using
the mulch as an alternate to covering the landfill with dirt. Green waste
taken to a County facility (Buena Vista or Ben Lomond) will continue to
be converted to mulch and diverted from their landfills.

BLM Proposes Dousing Wilderness Areas with Herbicides

To reduce the risk of fire and slow the spread of invasive weeds, the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed applying massive amounts of
herbicides to forests, rangelands, and aquatic areas in public land they
manage in 17 Western states. The proposal covers 932,000 acres, and could
potentially include the Coast Dairies land BLM is slated to be given.
An integral part of the BLM proposal involves aerial spraying of toxic
herbicides, which increases negative impacts on non-targeted vegetation,
wildlife, and people. According to the Organic Consumers Association, the
pesticides that would be used include persistent and mobile chemicals,
including known developmental and reproductive toxins.

Public comments are being accepted until January 9, 2006. To show your
support for managing vegetation on our public lands with traditional methods
that do not require widespread application of toxic chemicals, take a minute
to sign the petition at: www.organicconsumers.org/blm.htm

Bonny Doon's voice in preserving our special quality of life, The Highlander,
is mailed free to Bonny Doon residents prior to the RBDA General Meetings,
which are usually held on second Wednesdays of
January, March, May, July, September and November.
We encourage you to participate.

Send mail correspondence to the Highlander Editor at the above
address, or by email, below.